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Muslim leaders want California lawmaker to apologize for remarks

California Muslim leaders are calling on a state assemblywoman to apologize and retract an online comment she made about Islam.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, took to Twitter earlier this week to voice her outrage over the killing of American humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was taken hostage by the Islamic State prior to her death. Melendez, a U.S. Navy veteran, called the news “gut wrenching.”

Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Sacramento, characterized the hashtag, #standupagainstIslam, as “hateful,” and called on Melendez to apologize and then meet with her Muslim constituents.